The present invention relates to autonomous navigation, guidance and control utilizing the laser dynamic range imager (LDRI), and more particularly to an LDRI based high precision tracking, guidance and control system, which includes key technologies, including fuzzy logic based guidance and control, optical flow calculation (including cross-correlation, phase-correlation, and image differential), software design and implementation, and verification methods. The present invention is made with Government support under Contract NAS3-00088 awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Government has certain rights in this invention.
One application of LDRI-based autonomous navigation, guidance and control is the highly accurate automated docking. Current docking technologies, although very precise, are still not completely reliable. Current technologies include: Video Guidance Sensors, and Space Vision Systems, which provide automated docking software to the Space Program, but they are limited by the use of unique targets which are highly dependent on illumination and orientation. This guidance software requires two cameras to provide a 3-dimensional time history of the relative motion of the Docking Module and the Shuttle.
The autonomous navigation, guidance and control system consists of a motion control loop and an attitude control loop. The motion controller performs the trajectory control, i.e., the relative position tuning between the vehicles, according to the guidance law and the trajectory error. A robust Kalman filter is used to estimate the state variables, as required for relative attitude calculation.
An LDRI (laser dynamic range imager) tracker is implemented to provide the accurate position of special pattern points, which are used to determine the relative attitude, It also tracks the selected pattern of points on the vehicle without loss of the point tracking in the LDRI image pattern. The LDRI technology is a known art as suggested in the following references:
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During the approaching process, the accuracy of the relative position and attitude plays a key role that determines the docking success. At this stage, the LDRI tracker is used to obtain the accurate relative position and attitude. The docking activation distance is determined by the LDRI tracker and its sensitivity.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a method for autonomous navigation, guidance, and control for docking.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a method for autonomous navigation, guidance, and control for formation flying.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method for autonomous navigation, guidance, and control for docking by using a Laser Dynamic Range Imager (LDRI).
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method for autonomous navigation, guidance, and control for formation flying by using a Laser Dynamic Range Imager (LDRI).